The semiautomatic pistol disclosed by Gaston Glock of Austria in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,539,889, 4,825,744 and 4,893,546 has many distinguishing features. The Glock system represents a radical departure from the non in semiautomatic pistols in terms of design and mechanics. Shortly after the introduction of the Glock pistol, thousands of Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies issued or authorized Glock pistols for duty use; hundreds of thousands came into use in North America in the private sector as well.
The impressive adoption of the Glock semiautomatic pistol which currently is available in several calibers is attributable to its exemplary performance in testing as well as to the perception that the deployment of this weapon will provide an edge in combat situations which cannot be matched by other systems.
Among the advantages of the Glock system are: (1) fewer moving parts; (2) simple disassembly; (3) simple reassembly; (4) durability; (5) lightness achieved by maximum use of polymer; (6) simple operation; and (7) extreme reliability.
It is not surprising the Glock pistols--and the recently introduced Sigma pistol by Smith & Wesson--have taken a large segment of the handgun market by storm. In October of 1990, a Miami police officer captured the world title of I.P.S.C. World Stock Gun Championship with a Glock 17L competition model. In summary, Glock pistols, which incorporate a double-action trigger safety, are easy to use, reliable, durable and accurate.
There are only three externally-located controls on Glock pistols: (1) a slide release lever; (2) a magazine release button; and (3) a safe-action trigger system.
The safety features of the Glock pistol which will now be described relate to its safe-action trigger system and firing pin.
(1) There is a subtrigger or safety lever protruding through the front face of the trigger itself. When the trigger finger depresses the trigger system, the safety lever is contacted first and is depressed until it becomes flush with the face of the trigger, thereby unlocking the trigger so that it may be pulled to the rear in order for the gun to be fired.
(2) A firing pin safety blocks the firing pin until the trigger is pulled completely to the rear.
(3) A drop safety prevents the pistol from firing if it is dropped (the drop safety is disarmed as the trigger is pulled fully to the rear).
(4) The striker assembly is not fully enabled until the trigger is pulled completely to the rear.
Despite its numerous advantages, the Glock system suffers from a glaring deficiency. That deficiency is the lack of an affirmative safety device, i.e., a safety device requiring some cognitive action before firing capability is achieved. Lack of a cognitive safety device makes for several potential disasters: (1) the weapon may be taken away from its owner and turned on him/her; (2) accidental discharge during holstering, unholstering or other handling is facilitated; and (3) a child or other unauthorized person may too easily discharge the firearm.
Prior attempts to address this glaring deficiency include the leaf-type "New York Trigger Spring" which replaces a coil-type trigger spring, thereby increasing the force necessary to pull the trigger fully to the rear and fire the weapon. Its main purpose is to alter the trigger mechanism to "feel" like the typical police-type revolver. Training programs for law enforcement agencies in the field of safe weapon retention systems also exist. However, none of these efforts have truly addressed the Glock pistol's intrinsic lack of an affirmative safety device, i.e., one requiring cognitive action before firing capability is achieved while maintaining a mode of deployment which keeps the gun in a complete state of safety and makes accidental discharge impossible.
Currently there are two conventional conditions or modes of deploying a Glock pistol:
(1) The chamber is empty and a full magazine is in place. When the pistol is unholstered and held in the strong hand, the weak hand embraces the slide, draws it back and the trigger is then fully cocked. When the slide is released, a round is chambered and, with the trigger fully cocked, the gun is ready to fire. PA1 (2) A round is already chambered, the trigger is fully cocked and a full magazine is in place. When the pistol is unholstered, it is ready for semiautomatic operation by pulling the trigger, thus purposely or accidentally firing the first round already in the chamber. PA1 (1) Removing the slide from the receiver on the frame of the pistol. The slide assembly comprises the slide (or carriage) itself, the breech face (through which a firing pin passes under the force of a spring when the cocked trigger is pulled to fire the gun), the gun barrel (with a chamber at the rear for receiving a cartridge with its flanged rear end against the breech face and its flange under the casing extractor, and a recoil spring and spring guide (for holding the chambered end of the barrel against the breech face). PA1 (2) Removing the recoil spring and spring guide from the slide, thereby freeing the barrel. PA1 (3) Moving the chambered end of the barrel away from the slide and slightly forward an extent equal to slightly more than the length of a cartridge, thereby exposing the breech face and providing space to manually insert a cartridge into the space previously occupied by the chamber when in position against the breech face. PA1 (4) Placing the cartridge with its rear flanged end flat against the breech face and its flange under the extractor. PA1 (5) Loading the cartridge in the chamber by moving the chambered end of the barrel back over the cartridge until it is seated against the breech face. PA1 (6) Replacing the recoil spring and spring guide between an abutment at the front end of the slide and a lug on the chambered end of the barrel. PA1 (7) And finally, replacing the slide thus assembled with a round in the chamber on the receiver of the pistol frame, thereby completing the process of placing the pistol in the new, third condition of deployment with a round in the chamber and the trigger not cocked.